Search

Tate to drop withdraw of guilty pleas

Friday, March 13, 2026 at 12:04 PM

By Steve Anderson

The Clinton County (Ill.) States Attorney's Office says that 44-year-old Ray Tate of Hopkinsville, Ky. and formerly from Lawrence County has dropped his motion to withdraw his guilty pleas to several felony offenses in that western Illinois county.

He had filed a motion in court to withdraw his pleas to Aggravated Kidnapping, Armed Home Invasion, and Aggravated Possession of a Stolen Firearm stemming from his capture after he killed Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Riley in December of 2011. Tate was given two 30-year prison terms on the kidnapping charge, a 30-year sentence for the home invasion, and 10-years on the firearm charge to be served concurrently.

Tate is currently serving a life sentence without parole for the Riley death at the Menard Correctional Center in Chester.

He is still pursuing an appeal of his Wayne County murder charge in the Fifth District Court of Appeals, where the case remains pending.